what it sounds like to me is that there is little difference between the JF SLO and the Soldano module, either through the RM50, through the SYN-2 into the RM50 or Syn-2 through your VH4.

do I understand this?

you are equally happy with all of these scenarios?

Correct there are some voicing differences between the SLO and JF modules but it's nothing that could not be tweaked - either are great!

The modules through the MOD50 or the SYN-2 into the power section of the VH4 all sound great as do my existing modded and stock modules in both scenarios.

I'm not sure I'd say one was better or worse - there is a slight difference but it's akin to moving a module from a my MOD50 to my JF modded RM100. The amp is different but the majority of the character of the module itself stays the same while being impacted by the change in tubes and power section.

I would agree with JKD though the SYN-2 sounds great, my MOD50 is one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard, Bruce put Mercury Magnetic's transformers into mine as I think it was the last MOD50 built and it's a blistering little amp. The SYN-2 keeps up and that is testament to how good it actually sounds.

withmittens wrote:

gotta say, I envy your gear right now.

I pretty happy with it too, not so happy about my credit card bill mind you

I meant to chime in here a few weeks back after I took delivery of a SYN-1, Soldano and Dirty Shirley. Things have been so insanely busy at the shop I just haven't had the time.

I tried the SYN-1 hooked up at work to my benchside RM50 for about 5 minutes and got about 2 hours at home hooked up to a Boss Katana 100W with a Celestion Heritage G12H-55Hz Greenback. They did a great job on all of this gear and they should be really proud of their efforts. I really do applaud the results. My impressions are pretty in line with what's said here. It's fairly neck-in-neck with my work and that's impressive given the hurdle our mods overcome without being able to workaround the initial stage being in the amp housing.

I don't know that you would see any drastic differences between a modded module and their equivalent. Just a slightly different flavor that can get extremely close to each other with a slightly different setting of a knob or two. I'll likely pick up a few more for my collection and to support the brand, as should anyone else that supported the concept over the years._________________www.jadedfaithmods.comhttps://www.facebook.com/JadedFaithMods
Email: info@jadedfaithmods.com
Authorized Service Center for US Music and Egnater
Authorized Reseller for Celestion, Scumback & Mercury Magnetics

I don't know that you would see any drastic differences between a modded module and their equivalent. Just a slightly different flavor that can get extremely close to each other with a slightly different setting of a knob or two. I'll likely pick up a few more for my collection and to support the brand, as should anyone else that supported the concept over the years.

Hey Rob - I agree, the synergy stuff is nicely done

I think the dual SL-OD you did for me retains the title of my cold dead hands module though!

Can't wait to get some of the fender Synergy modules too - you heard any of those yet?

I meant to chime in here a few weeks back after I took delivery of a SYN-1, Soldano and Dirty Shirley. Things have been so insanely busy at the shop I just haven't had the time.

I tried the SYN-1 hooked up at work to my benchside RM50 for about 5 minutes and got about 2 hours at home hooked up to a Boss Katana 100W with a Celestion Heritage G12H-55Hz Greenback. They did a great job on all of this gear and they should be really proud of their efforts. I really do applaud the results. My impressions are pretty in line with what's said here. It's fairly neck-in-neck with my work and that's impressive given the hurdle our mods overcome without being able to workaround the initial stage being in the amp housing.

I don't know that you would see any drastic differences between a modded module and their equivalent. Just a slightly different flavor that can get extremely close to each other with a slightly different setting of a knob or two. I'll likely pick up a few more for my collection and to support the brand, as should anyone else that supported the concept over the years.

Couldn't agree more with this..especially the bolded stuff!

I'll add thatI totally understand the later iterations of your mods...with the 'simpler', more direct layouts, less bells and whistles (switches).....less noise and more refined tone are probably a better comparison to Synergy.

webrthomson: Thanks for the kind words and glad you are so happy with that SL-OD100 after all these years. I haven't heard the Fender modules yet and I doubt that would be something I'd buy personally. There are a few other things I'd be more interested in first.

JKD: They really did a great job and that should be commended. I know most of the team personally and there is a great brotherhood among many of us amp guys. We often help each other out, share knowledge and support each other where we can. I'm beyond happy for them and the result of their hard work. I know there was a lot of impatient remarks the past few years but sometimes these things take a lot of work to get right. Better to be patient than rush something out poorly.

I'm glad that the concept of the Series 2 mods wasn't lost. I'm a firm believer that less can be more. All the options in the world often lead to more noise and make things harder to dial in. If you do something simple and well, it can be far more satisfying. I just did a 2204-style scratch build for a customer. The only change to the entire circuit was a smaller bright cap. I spent great attention to the layout and the wiring runs. Everyone that played it had the exact same comments. The sound felt "3D and like it was coming from all around them" and it was dead quiet. Like turn everything to 10 and is this thing even on quiet._________________www.jadedfaithmods.comhttps://www.facebook.com/JadedFaithMods
Email: info@jadedfaithmods.com
Authorized Service Center for US Music and Egnater
Authorized Reseller for Celestion, Scumback & Mercury Magnetics

I'm glad that the concept of the Series 2 mods wasn't lost. I'm a firm believer that less can be more. All the options in the world often lead to more noise and make things harder to dial in. If you do something simple and well, it can be far more satisfying. I just did a 2204-style scratch build for a customer. The only change to the entire circuit was a smaller bright cap. I spent great attention to the layout and the wiring runs. Everyone that played it had the exact same comments. The sound felt "3D and like it was coming from all around them" and it was dead quiet. Like turn everything to 10 and is this thing even on quiet.

I found with my Salvado that it sounded most similar to the SLO with the EQ set very close..though the Salvado has more gain / maybe perceptible high gain because has a little more sizzle._________________Synergy - BE,HBE,DS,SLO,VH4,TDLX,Metro
Salvation-Deadplate, Spawn, MarkUS, Dual Salvado+JJ Dirt+Terrier
JF-Dual MachX+Voxless+ERect+MarkX
Gigmods - Mark
Hilly-Snorkeler
Egnater -COD
Randall - Brahma,Scary, Grail, GTO, SuperV

to me the two sound very different in presence amounts. While the tone and gain structure sound very similar, the Synergy sounds more present and brighter/clearer. I also hear this change a bit throughout, so maybe it;s the microphone being blocked or things moving around in the room.